Greetings in Jesus’ Precious Name,

“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” 1 John 3:1-3, KJV.

The Apostle John says, “Look at this folks! God is calling us His sons! Now we ARE the sons of God.”

Think of it! If we have been born again, we are God’s very own children. We have been adopted into His family, given His name and His nature, and included in the same inheritance that He has given His Son Jesus.  This is our new identity. This is who we are. This is what we have. In fact, the Bible says that Jesus is “the firstborn among many brethren.” In another place it says that He is “not ashamed” to call us brethren. Wow! According to the Bible, Jesus is our big brother! We are joint heirs with Jesus Christ. I’m amazed!

This is the greatest miracle…that God could take a sin-sick soul like me and put His glorious robe of righteousness upon my shoulders and bring me into His household to live as His very own child. Behold what manner of love!

Most of us greatly underestimate the incredible power of the new birth. When I receive Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, He gives me the right to become a child of God. What a miracle! What a privilege! And what a responsibility! Yes, now I am responsible to live like a son, to understand who I am, what I have, and what I can do. I am a child of God. I have all the resources of heaven. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. This is the new birth. This is what it means to be a new creature in Christ.

I have seen God do many wonderful and miraculous things—financial miracles, miracles of healing, and people being set free of demonic powers. But the greatest miracle of all is that a person who has been born in sin and under the power of the Adamic nature can, in a moment of time, be transformed into a holy child of God through the new birth.

Jesus told Nicodemus, “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” John 3:7, KJV. Jesus knew that Nicodemus, like the rest of us, could not get into heaven with his old Adamic nature. His religion, his morality, his social standing, his ecclesiastical credentials could not save him. He needed a miracle transformation—a new birth.

Amazed, Nicodemus asked, “How can this be? How can a man be born when he is old?” (paraphrased) It can only happen by a miracle. It can only happen by the grace of God. It can only happen by the power of the Holy Spirit of God.

This is the emphasis we bring every week on the radio, in our writings, in the churches, on the mission field, in nursing homes, and everywhere we go—“You Must Be Born Again.” You CAN receive resurrection life through Jesus Christ. Things CAN change for you. You CAN be born from above—born of God.

HAVE YOU BEEN BORN AGAIN?

Have you been Born Again? Has God come into your life and transformed your nature and given you a supernatural desire to serve and follow Him? Do you know in your heart that you are a child of God? You CAN know. You CAN know today. Just open your heart to God and say “Jesus is Lord of my life.” Believe that Jesus died for YOU personally and rose again and let Him rule in your heart. He will change you! You will become a child of God.

It’s clear to me that God wants all of us to have a greater revelation of what it means to be a child of God. We have been robbed of our inheritance by a lack of knowledge. God wants us to know “…what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 1:19, 20, NKJV. This is resurrection life, not only in a tomb in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago, but also right here in your life today.

We need for God to unveil the truth of the new birth to us in a greater measure. Too often, even though we have received the miracle of the new birth, our minds have not quite grasped what it really means. We see ourselves as ordinary, natural, unchanged people. We look at our faults and weaknesses and failures and we don’t recognize the GREAT THING that God has done in our lives. When you have this hope within you, He says, you will purify yourself. In other words, God’s righteousness and holiness will manifest itself in your life.

The Bible says that we are new creations and old things are passed away. But if we still think like an old creation, then we will not be able to manifest the power of the new creation. Therefore, reading your Bible is not a waste of time, as the devil would like for you to believe. Satan wants you to think that you need to run off to work or be busy with something all the time rather than opening up your Bible and finding out what God has to say. Open up your Bible! Read that love letter from your heavenly Father. Look into the mirror of God’s Word and find out who you are, what you have, and what you can do. Behold what manner the Father has bestowed upon you, that you should be called the son of God.

Thank you for your continued prayer and financial support. You are helping us to touch the world with the Good News! Happy spring!

Your brother in Christ,
Tom Shanklin

P.S. We have a podcast available online of a message I preached recently called You Must Be Born Again. You’ll hear more about WHY you must be born again, WHAT it means to be born again, and HOW to be born again. It’s a great “refresher course” for Christians, and it’s also a share with friends and loved ones who need to hear God’s message that “You Must Be Born Again.”